Mike Kafka is now 0-4 as New York Giants’ interim head coach. His chance of becoming the permanent head coach beyond this season has almost certainly faded away. What, though, about his chance of becoming a head coach somewhere else, be that in the NFL or in the college ranks?
Is his time as head coach of the reeling, seemingly hopelessly lost Giants hurting his chance of ever becoming a head coach?
Kafka has drawn interest from NFL teams in need of a head coach in every hiring cycle since becoming Giants offensive coordinator in 2022. He has interviewed with the Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, and Chicago Bears.
Kafka on Monday deflected a question about whether or not the Giants’ losing ways would make that interest from other teams dry up.
“I’m not really concerned about any of that stuff,” Kafka said. “That would be super-selfish of me to think about that and where we’re at in this season.
“My only focus is on the players and the coaches and getting our guys ready to roll. We got a great opportunity ahead of us with three games left. Nothing’s more important than this game right now against Minnesota. So that’s really where our mind’s at. That’s where my mind’s at.”
Kafka, who took over from Brian Daboll with the Giants already at 2-8, won’t bemoan not having an offseason to build the Giants the way he would have liked to.
“This is the situation that I’m in and I’m going to take full advantage of it,” Kafka said. “Any opportunity I have to help this team, put my fingerprint on the team, I will.
“Obviously, when you have the opportunity to do it from the start, you have a way to kind of change certain things, build the culture the way you want to build it, but we have a great team here, we have a great staff here, and I look forward to coming to work every single day.
“I love working with these guys.”
Here are more takeaways from Kafka’s Monday morning Zoom call.
Those Jaxson Dart concussion checks
Dart went for his fifth concussion check of the season on Sunday against the Washington Commanders. He has only been placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol once. Dart complained on Sunday that the league might be showing too much “sensitivity” whenever he gets hit.
Kafka said the league has the “right intentions.”
“I think the intent really behind, whether it’s the referees, whether it’s the medical people up top, that it’s all in the intent to help player safety and make sure these guys are healthy and they’re not getting banged up and dinged up,” Kafka said. “It’s one thing that the league has really made a big emphasis of. I think in Jackson’s particular case, I think they’re hypersensitive to just quarterbacks in general.
“I think they’re hypersensitive especially if you have been a repeat guy and have had another previous concussion they’re going to be sensitive to it.
“It’s kind of out of my hands … it’s all with the right intentions in terms of player safety. So it’s kind of where, you know, where we’re at in the league right now.”
Dart is doing more to protect himself
The rookie quarterback has been criticized for taking too many risks with his body. Sunday against the Washington Commanders, Dart dove or slid on a few occasions to avoid hits.
Kafka noticed.
“He slid a few times,” Kafka said. “I think when in terms of on the field scrambling, it’s not like he’s taking guys head on anymore. He’s picking an edge, at least picking a soft edge and trying to get himself down and protect the ball, which is most important, and protect himself as well.
“So I think – I thought he did a nice job this week doing that.”
The challenge for Abdul Carter
Rookie No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter had a fantastic game on Sunday, rebounding from two benchings in three weeks for missing practices or meetings. Dexter Lawrence’s message to Carter on Sunday was simple — doing it once isn’t good enough.
Kafka reiterated that message on Monday.
“He put together a good week of practice. It showed up in the game,” Kafka said. “The challenge, just like it is for everybody, is can you do that again? You have a good game, can you stack another day? Can you stack another week? Can you stack another game? That’ll be the challenge for him.”
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